"Two-thousand-three" or "Two-thousand AND three"?

In My Humble Opinion (IMHO)
#1

How do you pronounce our current year? Do you read out the numbers simply as they appear left to right, or do you add an “AND” before the last digit?

In the US, I noticed people on television were pronouncing numbers great than 100 without the distinct “AND” preceding the last digit, which we always use here in Australia.

For instance I heard,

101: “one hundred one” instead of the more familiar, “one hundred AND one”

1,234: “one thousand two hundred thirty four” rather than “one thousand two hundred AND thirty four”.

1,000,408: “one million four hundred eight” over “one million four hundred AND eight”.

So how do you pronounce numbers? Do you notice differences in other regions?

#2

[ul]:o [sup]In Mississippi, we never count over 10, unless we are barefooted.[/sup][/ul]

Using the “and” is not unknown, but it is wrong.

#3

I once had a math teacher tell me if you used the word AND you were saying there was a decimal involved.

123.02 one hundred twenty three and two hundredths.

but he was crazy so maybe he was just making it up.

#4

Two thousand three

Two thousand three and seventy seven hundredths

Two thousand three dollars and 77 cents

Two thousand three and seven hundred seventy three thousands

Two thousand three and seven point seven tenths
That last one’s a stretch.
p.s. I currently reside in the land of cotton.

#5

I was also told this, so I doubt it was made up…Unless all the math teachers got together and decided to scare us like that.

#6

thousandths even

#7

Why say two thousand AND three? Does anyone express “33” as thirty AND three. I’ve always heard thirty three with no AND. Since that is the case with smaller numbers, it should also hold true for large numbers.

#8

Oops, forget to add:

Do you always know where to put this superfluous “AND”? Couldn’t “6,542” be expressed as six thousand AND five hundred AND forty AND two by logical extension. No freakin’ AND’s in numbers, please!

#9

Ataraxy,

wow are you the guy that taught my Jr High math class? I’m having flashbacks here.

#10

Wowww, man!!! That would, like, really blow my mind, man!! The windows are breathing, man!!! Like total two thousand and one a space odyssey shit!

[/chong]

#11

I know I shall get into trouble for my views on this (I did last time), but I think a lot of it is merely tradition; I’ve been brought up with a system that includes ‘and’ - I tried to formulate the reuls for the position of it in the sentence and it isn’t simple, but the same could be said of many things such as spelling and grammar, which also have complex rules with exceptions all over the place.

123.02 - one hundred and twenty-three point zero two

123,456.78 - 0ne hundred and twenty-three thousand, four hundred and fifty-six point seven eight.

It seems the most natural thing in the world to me; I realise it may not be rigorous, logical or convenient, and may seem absurd, archaic, arbitrary and ridiculous to some, but as I said, life and language is like that.

#12

I should just add that to my English ears, The convention of not including ‘and’ makes the numbers seem spaced out as if they are being presented as discrete entities in a list, so

123,456 - “one hundred twenty three thousand, four hundred fifty six”

Sounds to me, (and I admit this is entirely subjective) as if it is describing the following list of numbers:

100
23,000
400
56

#13

Over here we always use the “and” - missing it out sounds, to me, characteristically American. :. I think it’s cultural. No logic to it at all.

#14

I get my cue from Grandpa Simpson

I call this year Aught 3

#15

I say the ‘and’, but then I’m Aussie and my Mum is British. I agree with Mangetout, I think it’s just a matter of tradition, not what is right and wrong.

Obviously saying the ‘and’ is not wrong in Australia, because we were all taught it that way by our teachers.

#16

My pronunciation (North East US)

Normally:
Twenty-Oh-Three

Sometimes:
Two Thousand - Three

Never:
Two Thousand and Three

#17

Which is always the correct way.

#18

Mais bien sûr!

#19

More bean soup?

#20

No, as we all know it’s
More bean AND soup